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Deadly bombing targets Afghan police

Second suicide attack in as many weeks kills four police officers in Kapisa, including group commander of local force.

18 Jun 2012 21:16 GMT

A suicide bomber has detonated his explosives in eastern Afghanistan, killing four police officers and five civilians.

Witnesses told Al Jazeera that local police appeared to be the target of Monday's attack in eastern Kapisa province, where the majority of France's 3,500 troops in Afghanistan are stationed.

The explosion in Tagab, a troubled district of Kapisa, killed the local police commander, his son, and two of his guards, provincial governor Mehrabuddin Safi told the AFP news agency.

Seventeen civilians were injured in the blast in the town's main bazaar, the governor said.

Most of the wounded were Afghan civilians visiting the town for the weekly market day.

Homayoun Rashidi, a local police spokesman, said the bombing targeted a group commander in the force known as the Afghan Local Police, which forms part of the Afghan government's security forces but does not come under the national police set-up.

Monday's blast is the second in as many weeks in Kapisa province.

Four French troops and two of their Afghan interpreters were killed in a suicide bomb attack last weekend, which was claimed by the Taliban.

That attack led French President Francois Hollande to call for the withdrawal of French troops from the Central Asian nation starting from July.